Pawn to Player
by Wildcard
Summary: Season 3 fic, based off the first ep! Rocket has a problem with Sinedd tempting Mei to the Shadows and tracks him down to tell him that. The conversation doesn't go as he planned. Sinedd/Rocket, mentions Sinedd/Mei, Rocket/Tia and D'Jok/Mei.


**Warnings:** Rocket/Sinedd, mentions Tia/Rocket, D'Jok/Mei, Sinedd/Mei. Manipulation and slash. Dedicated to FemaleSpock.

_Pawn to Player_

"I know what you're doing, Sinedd." Rocket said, grabbing the other boy by the arm and jerking roughly to make Sinedd face him.

"…Taking a walk on the beach? Yeah, clever, Rocket, you saw right through me." Sinedd rolled his eyes but didn't make any attempt to free himself. He'd been expecting this; he was disappointed that it hadn't happened sooner.

"I mean, I know what you're doing with Mei." Rocket clarified, eyes narrowing. The two of them were alone and he could speak freely; Rocket had observed Sinedd's patterns and realized that he took a walk every day down the beach. All Rocket had to do was wait behind some rocks and then ambush him.

"The same thing D'Jok used to do with her and you're doing with Tia? That is, if Tia puts out. Does she?" Sinedd arched an eyebrow at Rocket mockingly and Rocket felt a familiar itch start in his skin. He gritted his teeth and forced it down. He'd promised himself that he wouldn't let Sinedd get to him.

"I told you not to talk about her." Three sentences in and he'd already broken that promise."

"You left. Why the flux should I listen to what you say?" There should've been hurt in Sinedd's voice. There wasn't.

"Because that's what this is about, right? You're angry. So you're seducing Mei to piss off D'Jok and take her from the Snow Kids to piss off me." Rocket wouldn't use language like that in his normal life but Sinedd had always brought out the worst in him, ever since Netherball.

Sinedd's lips curved into a mocking smirk, "Taking her from the Snow Kids is what pisses you off? Funny. Sounds to me more like you're _jealous._"

"I'm not." The denial was automatic and as absolute as it was unbelievable.

"Sure. This is all about the Snow Kids. That's why you came here to talk to me on your own instead of taking the team with you." Sinedd rolled his eyes again and Rocket didn't let himself notice that they were darker than they'd used to be (he didn't let himself wonder how long it would be until Sinedd had to start wearing sunglasses too).

"I thought you'd listen better if it was just one of us instead of the whole team."

"Right. And they elected you to come talk to me? If I ask, they'll say that they know you were doing this?"

Rocket had to admit, the skepticism on Sinedd's part was well-deserved. He ducked his head and took a step back, his grasp on Sinedd's arm loosening. "…No."

"…Right." Sinedd stared at Rocket's bowed head and felt nothing but contempt (he told himself). "Come back when you know what you're doing then."

He made to pull his arm away but Rocket's grip on it tightened. When Rocket looked up again, he had the same sharpness of focus that Sinedd had only seen when Rocket had been in the Sphere. "Stay away from Mei."

"Or you'll do what?" Sinedd mocked, dropping his voice and leaning in a little so that he could make the next line seem more intimate, "Shouldn't that be D'Jok's line, or are you screwing her too?"

"Shut. Up." The itch under Rocket's skin grew fierce, like it had been in the Sphere when it felt as if the Breath was seeking an outlet and couldn't find any; a gnawing, tearing sensation that made him want to move and kick and jump and _grab_. He squeezed Sinedd's arm and felt better (he told himself the way that Sinedd tried not to wince had nothing to do with it).

"Fine." Sinedd shrugged and pretended that Rocket wasn't hurting him (just like he always had, in the Sphere and after it and after Rocket had left). "But if you're going to just talk to yourself, you don't need me here."

"…" Rocket didn't have anything to say to that, but he didn't let go either.

It was Sinedd's turn to narrow his eyes and when he took a step forwards, it closed the distance that Rocket had created when he'd stepped back. "Or do you?"

He smiled when Rocket struggled to get enough breath to answer, moving in as if he were here of his own free will (and he was, he'd been waiting for this) instead of Rocket being the one holding him. "_Do_ you need me, Rocket?"

The kiss that Rocket jerked him into answered that question; it wasn't tender, wasn't loving, it was nothing like the way that he kissed Tia. This had all the pent-up lust and longing of a forbidden affair, the knowledge that it could be months before Rocket had an excuse to meet Sinedd again (before Sinedd gave him a reason) and the knowledge that if anyone caught them, it could never happen again. Rocket's teeth scraped over Sinedd's lower lip and caught it, nipping hard, as he pressed Sinedd back against the rocks. Sinedd's trapped hand scrabbled at the granite but his other hand was in Rocket's hair already, a fistful of dreadlocks wound around his fingers and used to pull Rocket's head down towards his, encouraging the savage meeting of their mouths.

The kiss ended all too soon but when Rocket pulled away, stumbled back, hands falling from Sinedd's arm as if Sinedd's skin had burnt him through the cloth and through the gloves, Sinedd at least had the pleasure of seeing how wild-eyed Rocket was, how close he was to losing that last vestige of self-control that kept him on the Snow Kids and kept him with Tia.

"Stay away from Mei." Rocket rasped, as if it were the only true thing he knew, as if the only way to make this okay was to cling to the reason that he'd come here in the first place.

Sinedd wiped the back of his hand over his mouth, "Sure. And you'll stay away from me."

Rocket turned and practically fled. Sinedd watched him go with no regrets.

Rocket would come back, Sinedd knew. He always did. All Sinedd needed was to give him a reason.

_~Fin~_

**Author's Notes:** I haven't actually seen the first ep of Season Three yet but FemaleSpock gave me a loose summary over Twitter and this morning, I suddenly woke up with this conversation in my head between them! So if you liked the fic, thank her. Feedback & reviews are loved, as always.


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